UIC Engineering EXPO 2011 Projects Guide

!"
22nd
UIC ENGINEERING EXPO
Table of Contents
Schedule…………………………………….……………………….………………….2
Organizers….……………………………………………………….…………………..2
Letter from the Dean............................................................................................3
Judges………………….………………………………………….…………………....4
Projects by Category……………………...……………………………………….....5
Projects by Department………..………………………………………………….....7
Abstracts by Department
Bioengineering…………………………………………….…….…………..9
Chemical Engineering……………………………………..…….………..14
Civil and Materials Engineering………………..…………………..….….7
Electrical and Computer ...……………………………………………..…24
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering………..……………………….31
Room Layout with Categories and Table #………………………….back cover
ENGINEERING EXPO
Engineering EXPO began as the dream of alumna, Kathy McGuire and after
21 years it has fully evolved into the event you see before you! Senior
Design students, with the guidance of a faculty and/or industry advisor,
developed a project from conception to product design culminating with
their presentation at Engineering EXPO. This experience is a crucial one for
our seniors as it merges group collaboration, creation, and commitment.
With this event our seniors take the first step in engineering their future.
We wish all participants the best for a great EXPO and extend a special
thank you to the College of Engineering for making EXPO possible!
Kayla Andalina, President, Engineering Council
Stephen Drake, Student EXPO Chair, Engineering Council
Christine M. Kuypers, EXPO Chair, College of Engineering

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ENGINEERING EXPO 2011 - SCHEDULE
7:00 a.m. STUDENT REGISTRATION OPENS
7:00-8:15 a.m. PROJECT SET-UP
8:30 a.m. STUDENTS: Briefing - Illinois Room (stage area)
JUDGES: Sign-in & breakfast briefing
(Cardinal Room)
9:00 a.m. EXPO OPENS for general public
9:30-11:30 a.m. PROJECT JUDGING
11:30 – Noon COLLECTION OF VOTING BALLOTS
Attendee/Participant voting ends at noon!
Be sure to vote for your favorite project!
12:00 Noon ROBOTICS DEMONSTRATION (Illinois Room)
Engineering Design Team
12:00-1:30 p.m. VOTING TABULATION
1:30-2:30 p.m. AWARDS (Illinois Room)
______________________________________________________________________________
EXPO ORGANIZATION
General Chair: Chris Kuypers, Undergraduate Administration, COE
Technical Chair: Houshang Darabi, Ph.D., Department of Industrial Engineering
Student Chair: Stephen Drake, Engineering Council
Award Tabulation: Jim Muench, Undergraduate Administration, COE
Catering: Mary Larsen, Undergraduate Administration, COE
Cover Design Lara Ansari, Undergraduate, Department of Bioengineering
Printing Manor Press, River Grove, IL
EXPO FACULTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Terry Layton, Ph.D. Department of Bioengineering
Karl Rockne, Ph.D. Department of Civil and Materials Engineering
Jeff Perl, Ph.D. Department of Chemical Engineering
Vahe Caliskan, Ph.D. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Carmen Lilley, Ph.D. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

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Dear Students, Alumni, Families and Friends:
Welcome to the College of Engineering Senior Design EXPO 2011!
EXPO is student ingenuity and persistence at its very roots. In 1989, student leaders
approached Assistant Dean Arlene Norsym with a plan to create a science fair for engineers.
The idea took off, growing in its significance to the College under former Dean Dr. Paul Chung.
Today, EXPO is the capstone event in the academic life of our seniors; the opportunity to
display advanced design, prototyping and applied research projects.
We invite you to visit a wide array of design projects that draw upon the fundamental
engineering skills and creativity of our seniors. Student participants present their research to
teams of judges with prizes awarded for the best projects.
In this competitive environment, the College also wins. The EXPO judges, dedicated alumni,
friends and faculty members, contribute to the record of performance used by the College in our
very demanding accreditation process. Thank you to all our devoted judges for their service to
our students and to the College of Engineering.
We would like to give special recognition to the Sara Lee Corporation for its very generous
sponsorship of this year’s EXPO. A warm thank you to College Advisory Board member, Audra
Karalius, Vice President, Environment & Safety, of Sara Lee for helping us obtain this important
sponsorship. In recognition of Sara Lee’s generosity, there will be a special award this year, the
Sara Lee Environmental and Human Sustainability Prize.
We also want to thank Caterpillar Inc., alumnus Dr. Ali Khounsary, the Felder Family, and
Arlene Norsym, Vice President of the University of Illinois Alumni Association and Associate
Chancellor for Alumni Relations, for generously renewing their support of Senior Design EXPO.
We appreciate all of your help through the years.
We also thank the Foxman Family Foundation for their generosity and sponsorship of EXPO.
And many thanks also to our category alumni sponsors: Sue Tonon, Siva Tripuraneni of
Talented IT, Loxogon, Inc., represented by alumni Andrew Yashchuk and Ashley Poole, and
Kymanox represented by alumni Justin Pawlik. We look forward to a continued relationship with
you!
We appreciate the involvement of the faculty advisors who have mentored students through
their senior research courses and the sponsors and members of the college who have assisted
in the research, development and design of their projects.
We are extremely proud of our talented EXPO 2011 participants. Please enjoy the exhibits!
Peter C. Nelson
Dean of Engineering

THANK YOU EXPO JUDGES!
4
Abinash Roy, PhD
Ali Khounsary, PhD, Argonne National Laboratory
Amjed Shafique MS, PolyScience
Andrew Yashchuk MHA, Loxogon, Inc.
Ann Bhatia MS, Illinois EPA
Ashley Poole MBA, Loxogon, Inc.
Ashok Kumar, Valdes Engineering Company
Bill Hui, MS, Internal Revenue Service
Charles Frangos, Clark Deitz Inc.
Charles Ventura, Baxter Healthcare
Cosmin Stroe, University of Illlinois at Chicago
Dan Hansen, Daikin AC
Dan Karlak, CNH America LLC
Eduard Karpov PhD, UIC Dept. of Civil Engineering
Esennur Demir, Plexus Corporation
Georgette Hlepas PhD, PE, US Army Corps of Engineers
Gina Kennedy
Harish Naik, MS, Argonne National Laboratory
James Vaughan, Ectropics, Inc.
John Fischer, Engine Consultant
John Fudacz MS, UIC Dept. of Physics
John M. Stec
John Molburg PhD, Argonne National Laboratory
John Pincenti, PhD, Motorola
John S. Sitasz, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jonathan Abon MS, Tellabs
Jose Lujano Jr., Caterpillar Inc.
Julie Chang MS, Northrup Grumman Systems Engineering
Justin Pawlik, MBA, Kymanox
Karolina Grib MS
Keith Alsberg, Square 1 Product Development, Inc.
Kenneth Belcher MS, Argonne National Laboratory
King Moy MS, Herbst LaZar Bell
Leonard Foxman, Foxman Family Foundation
Louis Chrzasc PE, Collins Engineers Inc.
Luis Bravo, Advocate Health Care
Matthew Ventura, Aldridge Electric
Melanie Myers, US DOT - Federal Aviation Administration
Micah Albers, Motorola
Michael Goluszka, LA-CO Industries, Inc
Michael Pedersen, Walsh Group
Mike McDermott, ESD
Nancy Rocha, BP
Pamela Huck, CSP, Pamela R. Huck Inc.
Patrick Driscoll, MS, Senn High School
Pek Pongpaet, ShelfLuv
Peter Dombrowski MS, PE, SE, RJN Group Inc.
Raffi M. Turian PhD, UIC Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Raj Patel, Underwriters Laboratories
Ravi Malkani, Fed Ex SmartPost
Rich Adamczewski, Loyola University Health System
Robert G. Paluch MS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Roman Oletsky, Baxter Healthcare
Ron Adami, MS
Ron Kirschner, Heartland Angels
Scott F. Ordzowialy, Seeco Consultants Inc.
Siva Tripuraneni, MS, Talented IT
Steven Son, TransUnion
Susan Tonon, MS, United Airlines
Thomas J. Royston PhD, UIC Dept. of Bioenegineering
Truman Chua, Wolverine Trading
Vikas Chowdhry, MS, Epic
Vito Rotondi, Pier-Tech Inc.
WaShawn Brooks, Metropolitan Water Reclamation
District of Greater Chicago
Wayne Bunker, AT&T
William Bobco, Footlik & Associates
William Hand, MS, PC Assistants Inc.
William Nakulski, Handywizard, Inc.
William S. Pietrzak PhD, Biomet, Inc.
William Sonna MS

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1
EXPO 2011 - PROJECTS BY CATEGORY
1. Assistive Technology Devices (Sponsored by Foxman Family Foundation)
1.MIE.3 Cosmetic Legs
1.MIE.4 Foot Strengthener
1.MIE.1 Jake-cycle
1.MIE.2 Jake’s Bike
1.BIOE.6 Neck Stabilizer
1.BIOE.5 Safe Table
2. Mechanism and Device Design (Sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation)
2.MIE.7 Bath Buddy
2.MIE.8 Body Wash Sprayer
2.MIE.11 RESPIRA: Biological Defense Mask Body
2.MIE.10 RESPIRA II Biological Defense Mask Body – Cartridge Design
2.MIE.9 Retrofit Soap Sprayer
2.MIE.12 Soap Dispenser Buddy
3. Chicagoland Infrastructure (Sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation)
3.CME.27 Diverging Diamond Interchange: Interstate 80 at US-45, Mokena, IL
3.CME.26 Interstate 57/294 Exchange
3.CME.28 Metra Train Station – Pedestrian Tunnel, Lombard, IL
3.CME.25 Sustainable Highway Development Project
3.CME.29 Western Avenue: Optimized Transit Possibilities
3.CME.30 Willow Road Renovation
4. Environmental and Energy Conservation (Sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation)
4.CME.24 Light-Transmitting Concrete, a Glimpse into a Greener Sustainable Future
4.ECE.31 Power Saving Outlet
4.CME.22 Railway Track Foundation Design Using Recycled Materials
4.ECE.32 SOL-R
4.CME.23 Windy City Wind Farm
5. Structure and Site Design (Sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation)
5.CME.37 Development of Bond Strength in Concrete Beams Reinforced with Basalt Fiber
Polymer Bars
5.CME.36 Flexural and Shear Testing of Basalt Reinforced Concrete Structures
5.CME.35 Integration of Radiant Heat and Flexible Concrete in Bridge Decks
5.CME.33 Navy Pier Improvement: Design of Modern Ferris Wheel – a visionary focal point for
Chicago
5.CME.34 Non-Destructive Evaluation for Predicting Bolt Failure in Highway Bridges
6. Environmental Infrastructure (Sponsored by Susan Tonon)
6.CME.64 District Housing for Haitian Homeless
6.CME.63 Eco Slag
6.CME.61 Flood Water Control – Westchester, IL
6.ECE.60 Parking Spot Locator (PSL)
6.CME.62 Water Supply for Engineers Without Borders (EWB)

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7. Communication Devices (Sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation)
7.ECE.58 Augmenteddd+++
7.ECE.59 Personal Automated Note Digitizing Application (P.A.N.D.A.)
7.ECE.54 RF Proximity Detection Applications
7.ECE.55 RS422 Monitoring System
7.ECE.57 Whiteboard in a Watch (WAW)
7.ECE.56 Wireless Audio Data Transfer
8. Electronic Conveniences (Sponsored by Talented IT- Siva Tripuraneni)
8.ECE.50 ARMi: A Modern Kit Computer
8.ECE.53 Green Breeze
8.ECE.49 Guitarduino – Self Teaching Electronic Guitar
8.ECE.48 Kitchen Sidekick
8.ECE.51 Nintendo DS “Review”
8.ECE.52 PC Remote
9. Medical Devices (Sponsored by Foxman Family Foundation)
9.BIOE.14 Acoustic Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring System
9.BIOE.15 Endotracheal Tube Securing Device
9.BIOE.16 Flexible Electronics for Pressure Biosensors
9.BIOE.17 Optimized Follower Load System for Lumbar Spine Flexion-Extension Testing
9.BIOE.13 Handheld Learning Manipulandum
10. Medical Applications (Sponsored by Loxogon-Andrew Yashchuk, Ashley Poole)
10.BIOE.18 Computational Modeling of Stem Cell Differentiation
10.BIOE.19 Rational Design of Decision-Making Tool for Brain Surgeons
10.BIOE.20 Simulated Intrathecal Drug Delivery in a Dynamic Spinal Cord Model
10.BIOE.21 Targeted Drug Delivery with Magnetic Nanoparticles in Brain Phantom
11. Chemical Processes (Sponsored by Foxman Family Foundation)
11.ChE.44 Indirect Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste
11.ChE.45 Methanol Production from Synthesis Gas derived from Municipal Solid Waste
11.ChE.46 Production of Gasoline Components from Synthesis Gas
11.ChE.47 Syngas Production from Petroleum Coke Gasification
12. Production Methods and Facilities (Sponsored by Kymanox-Justin Pawlik)
12.ChE.39 Acetic Acid Synthesis via Methanol Carbonylation
12.MIE.40 Lifter Inventory Optimization
12.ChE.41 Plasma Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste
12.ChE.42 Production of Syngas from Coal Gasification
12.ChE.43 Synthesis of Propionic Acid from Syngas

Category.Department.Table
X.MAJOR.X
7
EXPO 2011
Projects by Department
Bioengineering
9.BioE.14 Acoustic Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring System
10.BioE.18 Computational Modeling of Stem Cell Differentiation
9.BioE.15 Endotracheal Tube Securing Device
9.BioE.16 Flexible Electronics for Pressure Biosensors
9.BioE.13 Handheld Learning Manipulandum
1.BioE.6 Neck Stabilizer
9.BioE.17 Optimized Follower Load System for Lumbar Spine Flexion-Extension Testing
10.BioE.19 Rational Design of Decision-Making Tool for Brain Surgeons
1.BioE.5 Safe Table
10.BioE.20 Simulated Intrathecal Drug Delivery in a Dynamic Spinal Cord Model
10.BioE.21 Targeted Drug Delivery with Magnetic Nanoparticles in Brain Phantom
Chemical Engineering
12.ChE.39 Acetic Acid Synthesis via Methanol Carbonylation
11.ChE.44 Indirect Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste
11.ChE.45 Methanol Production from Synthesis Gas derived from Municipal Solid Waste
12.ChE.41 Plasma Gasification of Municipal Solid Waste
11.ChE.46 Production of Gasoline Components from Synthesis Gas
12.ChE.42 Production of Syngas from Coal Gasification
11.ChE.47 Syngas Production from Petroleum Coke Gasification
12.ChE.43 Synthesis of Propionic Acid from Syngas
Civil and Materials Engineering
5.CME.37 Development of Bond Strength in Concrete Beams Reinforced with Basalt Fiber Polymer
Bars
6.CME.64 District Housing for Haitian Homeless
3.CME.27 Diverging Diamond Interchange: Interstate 80 at US-45, Mokena, IL
6.CME.63 Eco Slag
5.CME.36 Flexural and Shear Testing of Basalt Reinforced Concrete Structures
6.CME.61 Flood Water Control – Westchester, IL
5.CME.35 Integration of Radiant Heat and Flexible Concrete in Bridge Decks
3.CME.26 Interstate 57/294 Exchange
4.CME.24 Light-Transmitting Concrete, a Glimpse into a Greener Sustainable Future
3.CME.28 Metra Train Station – Pedestrian Tunnel, Lombard, IL
5.CME.33 Navy Pier Improvement: Design of a Modern Ferris Wheel – a visionary focal point for
Chicago
5.CME.34 Non-Destructive Evaluation for Predicting Bolt Failure in Highway Bridges
4.CME.22 Railway Track Foundation Design Using Recycled Materials
3.CME.25 Sustainable Highway Development Project
6.CME.62 Water Supply for Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
3.CME.29 Western Avenue: Optimized Transit Possibilities
3.CME.30 Willow Road Renovation
4.CME.23 Windy City Wind Farm

X.MAJOR.X
8
Electrical and Computer Engineering
8.ECE.50 ARMi: A Modern Kit Computer
7.ECE.58 Augmenteddd++
8.ECE.53 Green Breeze
8.ECE.49 GuitArduino – Self Teaching Electronic Guitar
8.ECE.48 Kitchen Sidekick
8.ECE.51 Nintendo DS “ReView”
6.ECE.60 Parking Spot Locator (PSL)
8.ECE.52 PC Remote
7.ECE.59 Personal Automated Note Digitizing Application (P.A.N.D.A.)
4.ECE.31 Power Saving Outlet
7.ECE.54 RF Proximity Detection Applications
7.ECE.55 RS422 Monitoring System
4.ECE.32 Sol-R
7.ECE.57 Whiteboard in a Watch (WaW)
7.ECE.56 Wireless Audio Data Transfer
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
2.MIE.7 Bath Buddy
2.MIE.8 Body Wash Sprayer
1.MIE.3 Cosmetic Legs
1.MIE.4 Foot Strengthener
1.MIE.1 Jake-cycle
1.MIE.2 Jake’s Bike
12.MIE.40 Lifter Inventory Optimization
2.MIE.11 RESPIRA: Biological Defense Mask Body
2.MIE.10 REPIRA II Biological Defense Mask – Cartridge Design
2.MIE.9 Retrofit Soap Sprayer
2.MIE.12 Soap Dispenser Buddy

UIC College of Engineering EXPO
Abstracts
2011
9
X.MAJOR.X
DEPARTMENT OF
BIOENGINEERING
9.BIOE.14
Acoustic Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring
System
David Franz, Grant Hartung, Garvin John, Martin
Matulyauskas
Advisor: Michael D. McCoy
Chief Operating Officer,
Heartsounds, Inc.
The health of over 3.5 million newborns per year
is monitored through fetal heart rate during labor
and delivery. Fetal heart rate monitoring helps
clinicians diagnose many pathologic conditions
in fetuses, such as oxygenic deficiency in the
fetal blood (hypoxia) or situational conditions
such as asphyxia. Current technologies include
Doppler Ultrasound, Fetal Electrocardiography,
Fetal Magnetocardiography, and Invasive ECG.
The largest limitations of these technologies,
however, is a mixture of expensive equipment,
the need for specially trained operators,
maintenance costs, and most importantly,
invasiveness or possible harm to the fetus.
These current technologies begin to face even
more problems when introduced to multiple
pregnancies. Our acoustic fetal heart rate
monitoring system provides a safer, more
accurate and cheaper alternative to existing fetal
heart rate monitoring devices, while also
specializing in the ability to differentiate up to
three separate fetal heart sounds in multiple
gestation pregnancies. The design comprises of
a multi-sensor array housed in cylindrical plastic
casing with four leads protruding from the top
that connect to an external signal processing
unit. At the base, an adhesive gel will connect
the plastic casing to the skin and silicone will
mediate the transmission of the signal between
the skin surface and the sensors inside the
housing. The low cost and specialization of our
product will make it the leading fetal heart rate
detection system on the market, due to its ability
to safely, accurately and continuously monitor
the fetal heart rate in both multiple and single
gestation pregnancies.
10.BIOE.18
Computational Modeling of Stem Cell
Differentiation
Sagar Nadimpalli, Sumaira Yahya
Advisor: Michael Cho, PhD
UIC Dept. of Bioengineering
Recent studies in cellular biomechanics have
shown that not only does mechanics play an
important role in stem cell differentiation, but it is
possible that the onset of differentiation into
tissue-specific phenotypes is initiated by
changes in biomechanical properties of cells.
These changes in mechanical properties of stem
cells are lineage-dependent. An understanding
of stem cell behavior, both experimentally and
computationally, would allow for the
development of more effective approaches to
expansion of stem cells in vitro and regulation of
their commitment to a specific phenotype. We
therefore investigated some of the mechanical
changes that occur in P19 mouse embryonic
stem cells as they differentiate into neurons in
order to develop a computational model of
neuronal differentiation. We harvested P19s in
vitro and induced neuronal differentiation using
appropriate mixtures of media. Using
quantitative fluorescence microscopy technique,
we obtained images depicting changes in actin
filaments, microtubules, and cell shape over the
course of differentiation. We successfully
developed a model of differentiation using our
experimental data along with computational
modeling software Virtual Cell to show how actin
fibers reorganize to support neuronal
morphology, microtubule filaments rapidly
generate to form axons, and how cellular

Abstracts
2011
10
X.MAJOR.X
morphology radically changes as P19s
transform into neurons. This model may be
improved in the future to include more
mechanical properties, and eventually expanded
to include stem cell differentiation into different
phenotypes. By using this model to simulate
neuronal differentiation, researchers will be able
to produce a greater outcome of fully
differentiated, functional neurons for use in
research and medicine.
9.BIOE.15
Endotracheal Tube Securing Device
Carl Funk, Pratik Patel, Rishil Patel, Sweetu
Patel
Advisor: Girish G. Deshpande, PhD
UIC Dept. of Pediatrics, Peoria
Premature removal of the endotracheal tube,
known as unplanned extubation, is a main cause
of tracheal damage and pneumonia for intubated
patients. The main reason for unplanned
extubation is the standard use of tape as the
only securing mechanism to hold the
endotracheal tube in place. The existing solution
to this problem is to add an attachment to the
endotracheal tube. As an alternate solution to
this problem, Apna Inc. integrated an
endotracheal tube and a y-junction adapter into
one unit with a dual purpose of simplicity and
securing. The goals are to allow for a secondary
attachment of the endotracheal tube to the
cheek and to indentify an angle to maximize air
flow while minimizing area between the curved
port and jaw. The purpose of a minimized area
under the curve is to allow for the reduction in
dead space and prevention of appendages or
equipment from hooking onto the curved port.
The optimal angle is determine through an
ALGOR simulation to identify turbulence in air
flows ranging from 30˚ to 90˚ curvature,
concluding that minimum turbulence was at a
45˚ angle. Modifications were done using
Autodesk Inventor. Using Autodesk inventor,
modification of existing parts was done to make
the existing design more efficient. Through
simulated and applied testing of the prototypical
design, in contrast to initial designs, the results
were within an acceptable range of the required
specifications. Future direction of this
prototypical design for Apna Inc. will be
laboratory testing and clinical application.
9.BIOE.16
Flexible Electronics for Pressure
Biosensors
Madiha Ahmed, Angela Chiu, Ben Fink, Ayesha
Hamid
Sponsor: Dan Gamota
Advisor: Christos Takoudis, PhD
Greg Jursich, PhD
UIC Chemical Engineering
Dept.
In the United States, on average each year 1.7
million people develop bedsores. The treatment
of bedsores costs between $2.2 and $3.6 billion
annually. Hospitals can save millions of dollars
by monitoring the formation of bedsores and
ulcers through a pressure biosensor. Because
the heel is the second most commonly affected
area developing bedsores, the Biosense team
decided to produce a heel pressure biosensor.
With flexibility and comfort for the patient in
mind, the sensor is constructed from a printed
electronics processor and material technology
on a thin plastic substrate. The printed
electronics-based sensor consists of conductive
and resistive ink that provides the circuitry to
transduce physical pressure into an electrical
signal. A dielectric or insulating fabric surrounds
the electronics, and a silicone adhesive is used
to adhere the device to the skin.

Abstracts
2011
11
X.MAJOR.X
9.BIOE.13
Handheld Learning Manipulandum
Syed Farhan, Anthony Gomez, Andy Linn,
Mehmet Serdaroglu
Advisor: James Patton, PhD
Robotic devices can help motor control
movements of human beings in clinical studies.
By using robotic devices, one can apply
unknown force fields to the arm to cause
resistance. The nervous system constructs
movement patterns slowly by experience and
uses them with electrical resistance to feedback
control without the user realizing. This study
illustrates the aim of the user to move to certain
points in which the user must adapt to these
unknown force fields in order to reach a certain
point. Once the force fields are removed and
the user moves to the same point, after effects
occur. To demonstrate these phenomena, force
fields can be applied via electromagnet involved
robotic devices to assist in repetitive movement
practice. This study provides us the ability to
recognize, understand and react to the force
fields which are generated by electromagnets
and shows us how the human nervous system
adapts to an electromagnet environment after
several trials.
1.BIOE.6
Neck Stabilizer
Dustin Brudnicki, Christopher Lory, Nicholas
Payanoff, Michael Troiani
Client: Judith M. Gardner, MS
Easter Seals: Disability
Services
Hydrocephalus is a condition that causes a
buildup of cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull,
leading to brain swelling. A common problem
that stems from hydrocephalus is poor control of
the head and neck due to the increased size and
weight of the head. The goal of this project is to
design a neck stabilizer for an eight-year-old boy
that will supports the weight of his head and
improve his posture. The child is currently using
a reclined headrest attached to a wheelchair that
doesn't provide the proper support for him to
keep his head in an upright position. Our goal is
to develop two different neck stabilizers in order
to see which provides the best support and
comfort. The first design consists of a head
strap mounted to a pulley system. The head
strap is attached to the pulley at the top of the
head, with the pulley suspending the head and
allowing for free lateral movement. The second
design consists of a back and shoulder plate
that supports a cushioned brace on the back of
the head. The head is secured by a strap
wrapped around the child's head and is attached
to the brace. The cushioned brace is attached to
the back plate by a ball joint fitted to a steel rod;
the ball joint allows lateral and vertical
movement of up to 65°.
9.BIOE.17
Optimized Follower Load System for
Lumbar Spine Flexion-Extension
Testing
Abdul Rahman Abutaleb, Kayla Andalina, Dean
Khan, Amanda Vicich
Advisor: Alejandro A. Espinoza, PhD
Midwest Orthopedics at Rush
University Medical Center
!
Applying a compressive load on the lumbar
spine of physiological magnitude in vitro (in a
controlled environment) has been a challenge in
the past for spine biomechanics research.
Recently the follower load system has emerged
as a pioneering technology in the field of lumbar
spine testing. The follower load allows in vivo
(physiological) loads to be applied during ex vivo

Abstracts
2011
12
X.MAJOR.X
(laboratory) spinal testing without causing tissue
damage or unnecessary shear forces and
bending moments to form within the lumbar
spine. Spinomatix is a follower load system that
is being developed by Spine Time to be at the
forefront of this technology. Spinomatix allows
for lumbar spine testing to more accurately
mimic in vivo forces and stresses experienced
by the lumbar spine during physiologic flexion,
extension, and torsion movements. These
improved experimental capabilities provided by
Spinomatix will allow for future lumbar spine
studies that provide a deeper insight into the
lumbar spine’s support function as well as its
disorders and degradation mechanisms.
10.BIOE.19
Rational Design of Decision-Making
Tool for Brain Surgeons
Cierra M. Hall, Brian Henry, Nicolas Vaicaitis
Advisor: Andreas Linninger, PhD
Cerebral vasculature diseases are difficult to
diagnose and treat due to the inaccessibility of
the human brain and the unpredictability of
medical intervention. However, advances in
medical imaging allow improved experimental
measurements of cerebral blood flow in arterial
networks. These measurements along with
rigorous mathematical modeling provide the
means to assess optimal treatment strategies for
individuals at risk of developing ischemic stroke
and other cerebrovascular disorders due to
aneurysm or arterial blockage. To this end,
computer models of cerebral vasculature which
capture patient-specific hemodynamic properties
were constructed using magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging
(DTI) data combined with automatic vessel
generation techniques. Fluid flow equations are
used to compute the blood flow and pressure
distribution throughout the reconstructed
network. The patient-specific models were
validated using experimental blood flow
measurements from real patients. The tool we
developed permits a quantitative analysis of
cerebral hemodynamics and may lead to a more
fundamental understanding of a patient's
disease state and improved assessment of
available treatment strategies.
1.BIOE.5
Safe Table
Anthony Felder, Christine Girard, William
Schulenburg, Bhavani Sishtla
Client/Sponsor: Judith M. Gardner, MS
Easter Seals of DuPage
In August of 2010, Judy Gardner of Easter Seals
of DuPage County, IL, recruited us to build a
special needs rehabilitation table suited for
handicapped children (ages five to nine). The
principal design considerations are the table’s
durability and stability. Durability and stability are
key constraints due to the intended users:
children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities
which results in significant and spastic
movement. The desired table must withstand
the force of any spastic movements placed upon
it in order to provide more effective therapy.
Several rehabilitation tables currently exist on
the market today; however, they are either light
and expensive, or heavy and inexpensive.
We designed a table to be light, adjustable in
height, safe, featuring two cutouts—one for user
and one for therapist—while maximizing surface
area. The table also features a colored lip to
ensure patient safety as well as provide a visual
cue to table dimensions. Many materials fulfilled
design constraints, but Polypropylene, a
thermoplastic polymer, fit our needs the best:
being sturdy, lightweight, and inexpensive.
Underneath the tabletop a metal plate is placed
to effectively provide more strength and rigidity.
Four foldable legs made of non-reactive
aluminum attach to the metal plate thus
providing secure stability and weight distribution.

Abstracts
2011
13
X.MAJOR.X
Safe Table is designed to ensure quality and
safety, while providing a table suitable to a
broad range of patients and therapeutic
techniques.
10.BIOE.20
Simulated Intrathecal Drug Delivery
in a Dynamic Spinal Cord Model
Timothy Harris, Sara Nowacki, Andrew Valliyil
Advisor: Andreas Linninger, PhD
Treatments of cerebral diseases such as
Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer require the
efficient delivery of therapeutic drugs to the
brain. These drugs could be delivered by oral or
intravenous administration. Unfortunately, due
to the large sizes of most drugs, these
macromolecules cannot effectively reach the
affected brain tissue via the circulatory system,
as they cannot cross the blood brain barrier.
Intrathecal drug delivery uses the cerebrospinal
fluid to transport macromolecules via the
interconnected subarachnoid space in the spinal
canal and the brain, bypassing the blood brain
barrier. Clinical studies have shown that drugs
delivered intrathecally experience a greater
distribution than that accounted for by pure
diffusion. Neurosurgeons have hypothesized
that the pulsations of the cerebrospinal fluid
could have caused the accelerated distribution.
These pulsations stem from the pulsatile motion
of the vasculature of the brain due to the
elasticity of the vessel walls. Hence, the
cerebrospinal fluid is driven into the spinal canal
with each cardiac cycle. The total cerebral
spinal fluid displaced into the spinal canal per
cardiac cycle is between 1-3mL. An
experimental apparatus was devised to emulate
and investigate the accelerated distribution of
species within the spinal canal. The
experimental set-up examined the effects of
pulsations on the dye and radio nucleotide
distribution. Experimental results indicate that
the pulsations cause forced diffusion, or
convection which appears to facilitate the
increased drug distribution. These experimental
studies offer valuable insights that will aid in the
accurate prediction of the distribution of
therapeutic drugs administered by intrathecal
delivery.
10.BIOE.21
Targeted Drug Delivery with Magnetic
Nanoparticles in Brain Phantom
Navin Agarwal, Madelaine Daianu, Dexter Teng,
Laura Zitella
Advisors Andreas Linninger, PhD
Richard Penn, MD
UIC Dept. of Neurosurgery,
Rush University/UIC
Bioengineering Dept.
Neurological disorders affect millions of people
in the United States every year. Specifically,
neurodegenerative diseases and brain cancer
are a major focus in the field of biomedical
engineering and medicine; the difficulty in
controlling drug release to specific regions in the
brain presents limitations in the healing process
of such conditions. This heightens the
importance of research for targeted drug
delivery in the brain with the use of external
magnetic guidance of magnetic nanoparticles.
The external magnetic guidance of magnetic
nanoparticles in the brain aims at increasing the
specificity of drug delivery to tissue and avoids
system toxicity, disease progression and tumor
metastasis. Our project focuses on developing a
model for systematic drug delivery to determine
how magnetic nanoparticles can be magnetically
driven through brain phantoms in order to
improve the targeting specificity and volume
distribution of therapeutics. We simulated
magnetically guided nanoparticles using 0.6%
agarose brain phantoms both experimentally
and in 2-D and 3-D COMSOL Multiphysics

Abstracts
2011
14
X.MAJOR.X
models. Our fluorescent stained iron oxide
nanoparticles with surface coatings were
superparamagnetic in order to counteract
agglomeration and were externally guided by
Neodymium Iron Boron magnets. Movement and
the resulting distribution of magnetically guided
nanoparticles using external magnets were
obtained in the COMSOL model and the results
were verified with experimental brain phantom
models. Ultimately, our outcomes demonstrate
the capacity to treat neurodegenerative diseases
and brain cancer by directing therapeutic agents
to targeted areas in the brain, which presents an
important breakthrough in the field of biomedical
engineering and medicine.
[End of Bioengineering Abstracts]
DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
12.ChE.39
Acetic Acid Synthesis via Methanol
Carbonylation
Jay Gulotta, Drew Haight, Kerry O’Connell,
Priyanka Oroskar, Frank Perez
Advisor: Jerry Palmer
Ambitech Engineering
The goal of this project is to design an acetic
acid plant that uses syngas as a feedstock and
methanol carbonylation as the main mechanism
of acetic acid production. Syngas will be
provided by upstream gasification team. Global
demand for acetic acid at the present time is 6.5
million tonnes a year with a forecasted growth of
8% per year over the next 6 years. Acetic Acid
is used widely in the chemical industry to
produce many compounds such as purified
terephthalic acid (PTA) and vinyl acetate
monomers (VAM). Synthesis of acetic acid will
be accomplished by conversion of syngas to
methanol utilizing the Lurgi™ process. Once
methanol is synthesized from the Lurgi™
process, the Cativa™ process is used to
produce acetic acid. The catalysts used in these
processes are highly efficient, with a selectivity
of greater that 99% for each corresponding
product, with limiting byproduct formation. Our
process will integrate all possible energy
sources and byproducts within the process to
make it as cost effective and profitable as
possible. This acetic acid plant is almost
completely self-reliant due to coupled processes
within the system, which greatly reduces energy
needs from outside sources.

Abstracts
2011
15
X.MAJOR.X
11.ChE.44
Indirect Gasification of Municipal
Solid Waste
Eleftherios Avtzis, David Garcia, Bryan Isles,
Zack Labaschin, Alena Nguyen
Advisor: Jeffrey Perl, PhD
UIC Dept. of Chemical
Engineering
The world today has a growing problem of
garbage. In the US alone, each person
generates approximately 4 pounds of trash a
day - that’s 1460 pounds per person per year.
The US annually produces 220 million tons of
trash, which sits in landfills decomposing and
emitting methane to the atmosphere becoming
both an environmental and public hindrance.
Utilizing the indirect gasification process
developed by Taylor Biomass Energy (TBE), the
production of synthesis gas from MSW is a
profitable, sustainable, cost-effective system that
provides valuable synthesis gas to Chemical
Production plants. The TBE process stands
apart from conventional gasification processes
due to the three major unit operations that drive
the process: the gasifier, the combustion
reactor, and the gas conditioning units. The
heating agent, Olivine is cycled to supply the
energy for gasification and cleanup reactions
while increasing the amount of hydrogen gas.
The use of steam as the oxidizing agent is
known as indirect gasification, which is a cost-
effective and an eco-friendly process because it
produces minimum amounts of NOx, no dioxins,
limits the environmental impact of landfills, and
provides clean energy. The TBE process will be
applied to the Newton County Development, a
267 acre landfill in Brooke, IN. By reducing
accumulated MSW, greenhouse gas emissions
will be minimized, valuable metals will be
recycled, and synthesis gas will be provided to
the exact specifications of a joint gasoline
production facility. This design is a stimulating
endeavor for the environment’s tribulations.
11.ChE.45
Methanol Production from Synthesis
Gas derived from Municipal Solid
Waste
Priya Chetty, Scott Morgan, Brian Mottel,
Daniyal Qamar, Sukhjinder Singh
Advisor: Dennis O’Brien
Jacobs Consultancy
Methanol is a chemical which is used in many
diverse applications. Methanol is commonly
used as a fuel, as antifreeze, and as a solvent,
but can also be utilized to produce plastics,
adhesives, and dyes. The most common
method for producing methanol involves
combining methane (natural gas) and water to
produce synthesis gas, which is carbon
monoxide and diatomic hydrogen. This
synthesis gas is then used to produce methanol.
The issue with this process is that methane is
very useful as a heating fuel which is why it is
used to fulfill residential heating needs. This
method of methanol production is essentially
using a fuel to produce another fuel as the
product. Our goal is to make Methanol by using
a sustainable source of fuel. The source of our
synthesis gas is Chicago Land Municipal Solid
Waste. A waste stream will be utilized rather
than a fossil sourced feed stock. The synthesis
gas will then be compressed, and fed into a
multiple feed reactor which contains
Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts to produce methanol.
Unused synthesis gas will be separated from the
initial product stream and recycled back into the
reactor. The initial product stream will contain
methanol, along with water, as well as other
alcohols such as ethanol, and propanol. To
ensure that the methanol produced will meet the
grade AA industry standard, which states that it
must be 99.85% pure, the initial product will go
through a flash separator followed by two
distillation columns.

Abstracts
2011
16
X.MAJOR.X
12.ChE.41
Plasma Gasification of Municipal
Solid Waste
Tien Diep, Kevin Estacio, Sebastian Iskra, Linda
Quan, Felix Velazquez
Advisor: Dennis O’Brien
Jacobs Consultancy
In recent years, there has been a world-wide
movement to reduce global warming. A variety
of different environmental awareness programs
have spawned from this pivotal issue. The
Chicago blue bin program and the decline in
plastic bag use in supermarkets are examples of
government and corporation change
respectively. In 2008, the EPA documented that
recycling has reduced the amount of waste
produced by 7% from 2007. However, Illinois
landfills accepted more than 15 million tons of
solid waste in 2008 and 69.5% of that waste
came from the Chicago Metropolitan area. In
2003 there were 50 landfills in Illinois accepting
waste; by 2008 there were only 45 landfills. It
would be prudent to act quickly and decisively.
The objective of this design project is to build a
5,000 tpd (tons per day) municipal solid waste
(MSW) plasma gasification plant that produces
useful and safe products. Currently there are
several of these units in operation around the
world. These plants produce steam and hot
water which can be used for power and heat
generation, slag which can be sold as building
material, pure N2 gas which can be sold to other
companies, sulfur which can be used in the
production of fertilizers, and synthetic gas which
can be used to produce methanol. Not only is
this design project an eco-friendly way to utilize
unwanted MSW and produce reusable and
environmentally safe products, it also reduces
the amount of landfill waste in Illinois and
provides feed components for other industries.
11.ChE.46
Production of Gasoline Components
from Synthesis Gas
Yacuob Awwad, Bernard Hsu, Ayesha Rizvi,
Mohammed Shehadeh, Jeffrey Tyska
Advisor: Dan Rusinak
Middough Engineering
One of the largest problems facing this country
is the current energy crisis. World oil production
peaked in 2005, and prices have been going up
in recent years. Much of the U.S.’s oil is also
imported, leading to reduced energy
independence. Due to this crisis, many methods
of producing liquid fuels for transportation and
heating are being researched. One way to help
abate the current problem is to make gasoline
and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from
renewable sources. Our project will take
municipal solid waste-derived syngas (H2 and
CO) and convert it into gasoline, which can be
blended in a refinery, and LPG, which can be
used for heating or as a fuel for specially
modified automobiles. Our gasoline and LPG
will also have a smaller carbon footprint than
fossil fuel derived gasoline and LPG. By using
this process, a renewable and local fuel can be
produced which will fit into the current
infrastructure. The first step of our process will
be taking syngas with an H2 to CO ratio of 2:1
and turning it into Methanol. Most of the
Methanol then will be converted to dimethyl
ether (DME) and water. Methanol and DME will
then react to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons will be separated by distillation,
and a product stream of C5+ gasoline and LPG
will be produced and sold. Our process is based
upon the Mobil Process, which has been
demonstrated in a plant in New Zealand which
produced about 14,000 barrels of gasoline per
day.

Abstracts
2011
17
X.MAJOR.X
12.ChE.42
Production of Syngas from Coal
Gasification
!
Sana Buch, Andrew Duffy, Liliana Gutierez,
Sarah Hanif, Chris Starrick
!
Engineering
!
Propionic acid has various uses. It is used in
preservatives, herbicides, cosmetics and in
plasticizers. United States is a large consumer
of propionic acid, consuming about 34% of its
worldwide production. The process of producing
propionic acid involves reacting syngas with
ethylene. The syngas needed for this reaction
needs to be at a 1:1 ration of carbon monoxide
to hydrogen. Therefore, the goal of this plant is
to gasify bituminous coal to produce 14,000 tons
per year of 1:1 carbon monoxide to hydrogen
ratio syngas at low temperature. Gasification is a
process that converts carbon to carbon
monoxide and hydrogen under controlled
oxygen. The coal obtained for the plant is
specifically referred to as “#6 bituminous coal”
and is very abundant in southern Illinois.
Specifically, the plant will be located in Morris,
Illinois. Sixty to eighty percent of bituminous
coal is carbon while the rest of the composition
consists of water, air, hydrogen and sulfur.
Illinois #6 bituminous coal will be used to
produce 14,000 tons per year of 1:1 carbon
monoxide to hydrogen ratio syngas. The coal
will be gasified using an entrained flow, radiant
quench gasifier at 300 C and 100 bar. The
output from the gasifier will then be treated with
two different solvents, Selexol and MEA, to
remove traces of sulfur and carbon dioxide,
respectively, from the stream. Lastly, the stream
will go through a water gas shift reaction to take
the 1:1 ration of hydrogen and carbon monoxide
into account. This stream will be sold to another
plant creating propionic acid from syngas.
11.ChE.47
Syngas Production from Petroleum
Coke Gasification
Russell Cabral, Tomi Damo, Ryan Kosak, Vijeta
Patel, Lipi Vahanwala
Advisor: Bill Keesom
Jacobs Consultancy
Jeffery Perl, PhD
UIC Department of Chemical
Engineering
Petroleum coke is a major byproduct that
historically has been used as a substitute for
coal in power production or as a fuel in cement
manufacture. The decreasing quality of crude
oil refined in the United States means that more
petroleum coke is being produced, often with
much higher metals and sulfur content. Our
objective is to evaluate a better route for using
low quality petroleum coke by converting it into a
feed for our linked acetic acid production team
while capturing all of the sulfur, metals and most
of the CO2 from combustion. Since petroleum
coke is linked to the refining of crude oil, it is
available at much lower cost and in much larger
quantities than bio-feeds. In addition, because
petroleum coke is a byproduct, and not directly
extracted from the environment, it lacks the
negative land use impacts of bio-feeds. In our
process, petroleum coke along with oxygen and
steam are fed into an entrained flow gasifier to
produce synthesis gas, a combination of carbon
monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and
hydrogen sulfide. Sulfur is a poison to
downstream chemical production catalysts and
must be removed from syngas to ppm levels by
the Claus process. A significant advantage of
our process is that unlike burning petroleum
coke for conventional power, the CO2 from
combustion can be captured and sent via
pipeline for sequestration, or enhanced oil
recovery. Aspen, a thermodynamic simulation
tool, is used to establish the material and energy
balance for the overall process.

Abstracts
2011
18
X.MAJOR.X
12.ChE.43
Synthesis of Propionic Acid from
Syngas
Sabah Basrawi, Alex Guerrero, Mrunal Patel,
Kevin Thompson
Engineering
With an estimated world production of capacity
of 377,000 metric tons in 2006, Propionic Acid is
an important organic acid that does not receive
much publicity. Propionic Acid – which occurs
naturally in apples, strawberries, grains, cheese,
and human sweat – is mainly used as a mold
inhibitor for various animal feed and baked
goods as well as a preservative in cheeses. It is
also a significant precursor in many industrial
processes such as pharmaceuticals, plastics,
plasticizers, textile and rubber auxiliaries, dye
intermediates, as well as flavorings and
cosmetics. Our group has designed a chemical
plant for the production of Propionic Acid with a
projected output of 33,000 tons per year. The
initial feedstock will comprise of Sygnas (a
mixture of CO and H2) and Ethylene, which will
react in a process known as carbonylation in the
presence of a catalyst to produce
Propionaldehyde. The Propionaldehyde will then
be oxidized to produce Propionic Acid. The
market demand for Propionic Acid is expected to
grow at around 2.3% per year regardless of the
state of the economy since food production and
preservation is highly dependent upon it. With a
steadily increasing market price and demand for
Propionic Acid along with its marketability in
other industrial processes combined with its high
price relative to our cheaper reactants and
catalysts should make the proposed plant a very
economically feasible one.
[End of Chemical Engineering Abstracts]
DEPARTMENT OF
CIVIL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
5.CME.37
Development of Bond Strength in
Concrete Beams Reinforced with
Basalt Fiber Polymer Bars
Aimihazwan Azizan, Nathan Michael Bauerle,
Kokou Dagawa, Lam Nguyen
Advisor: Mohsen Issa, PhD
UIC Dept. of Civil & Materials
Engineering
Concrete has proved to have been an efficient
composite material that has been used in
structural applications for many years. It is
strong in compression and weak in tension. Due
to this fact, steel reinforcement has been used in
order to provide the necessary strength in
tension. Even though steel has been identified
as the best reinforcement material in most
cases, it would still corrode in aggressive
environments. Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP)
were already identified as the alternatives for the
steel reinforcement in such cases. Although
design guidelines are available for Glass,
Aramid and Carbon fiber polymers, there are no
design guidelines established yet for Basalt
Fiber Reinforced Polymers (BFRP) due to the
lack of research studies. BFRP would be a
better solution as reinforcement in the future due
to its favorable mechanical properties not only
over steel but also over other FRP. In order to
have good bond behavior between the concrete
and the Basalt reinforcement, slippage cannot
occur. For structural design, it is critical for the
engineer know about bond behavior and the
required development length for perfect bonding
of the Basalt reinforcement with the concrete.

Abstracts
2011
19
X.MAJOR.X
This project studies the development length and
bond behavior between the concrete and BFRP
using twenty specimens of beams and ten pull
out specimens using five different diameters of
BFRP. It will also help develop design guidelines
for the use of BFRP in concrete in the future.
6.CME.64
District Housing for Haitian Homeless
David Alvarez, Dao Nguyen, Kris Salvatera,
Jeremy Stull, Stephen Wong
Advisor: Mustafa Mahamid, PhD, SE,
PE, LEED AP
Engineering
One year after the devastating Haiti earthquake,
there are still over a million people left without
adequate shelters and safe drinking water. The
reconstruction process will undoubtedly take
years and billions of dollars before every Haitian
will have a permanent home. Our goal is to
design a fast track shelter system that is able to
withstand not only earthquakes, but also take
advantage of the heavy rainfall that occurs in
Haiti. The design of our shelter system was
inspired by honeybee hives known for their
extremely efficient geometry that maximizes
volume while using the least amount of material.
These hexagonal shaped shelters are
constructed using a one piece fabric roof and six
steel framed walls and will be able to sleep 8 to
10 people. Because of the uniformity of the
design, production cost will be low as there are
few parts that need to be produced. During rain,
the water will be retained and channeled through
the connected roofs into a nearby reservoir and
then treated for use. In addition, electric energy
produced from wind farms will distribute enough
energy for lighting. Ultimately, communities will
develop consisting of our shelters with water for
life and electricity for safety. Our goal is to bring
the cost of each shelter down to an affordable
price where more fortunate families can make a
donation to provide this shelter for at least one
family. This design is sustainable in that it can
be disassembled and used elsewhere.
3.CME.27
Diverging Diamond Interchange:
Interstate 80 at US-45, Mokena, IL
Bassma Khider, Mark O’Neil, Brandon Pursel
Advisor: Kouros Mohammadian, PhD
Engineering
Highway transportation options nationwide are
becoming increasingly limited due to land
development (and by proxy, increased land
acquisition costs), ecological concerns, limited
funding, and a prevalent NIMBY (Not-In-My-
Back-Yard) mentality. Engineers have found
innovative solutions to allow a greater number of
vehicles to flow on highways without adding
additional lanes, including the diverging diamond
interchange. This interchange design uses two
traffic signals allowing surface-road traffic to
cross over to the left side of the road to allow
free access to expressway ramps, and then
cross back over to the right side of the road past
the interchange. The first such interchange in
the United States opened in July 2009 along
Interstate 44 at MO-13 in Springfield, Missouri.
This project endeavors to improve on the design
of the Springfield interchange by using wider
curves allowing for higher ramp speeds, and by
developing safer and more gradual merging than
what currently exists. As this interchange design
does not increase land-use and uses tighter
ramps than a traditional cloverleaf, its effect on
the surrounding landscape is minimal.
Elimination of the two existing cloverleaf ramps
at this particular interchange will allow for swifter
and safer movement of trucks. Furthermore,
since traffic can move freely on and off the
expressway ramps, traffic queuing will
substantially decrease, reducing the waste of
time and fuel.

Abstracts
2011
20
X.MAJOR.X
6.CME.63
Eco Slag
Marius Bialobrzeski, Matthew Calpin, Nathan
Hembree, Harry Lee, Jock Lezon
Advisor: Christopher B. Burke, PhD
Water Resource and Municipal
Engineering
Lakeside Development is a proposed idea for a
neighborhood to be built over the next 50 years
in the City of Chicago. This neighborhood will be
located adjacent to Lake Michigan on a vacated
U.S. steel site. The majority of the land that
makes up the site is slag. This is a byproduct of
steel manufacturing, which was dumped into the
lake and over time cooled into a very porous and
hard terrain. The storm water that falls on the
site is allowed to flow freely through the slag and
continue into the groundwater. This groundwater
will essentially be an extension of Lake
Michigan, recharging through infiltrated
groundwater. This system, which delivers storm
water through slag to infiltrate the ground, will
essentially be the first of its kind in the City of
Chicago. The vast majority of Chicago currently
uses a system that takes storm water and
deposits it into a storm/sanitary sewer system.
The storm water is then treated as waste, before
being released to the Sanitary and sewer canal.
Our objective is to design a model street, alley,
and typical site demonstrating complete
infiltration of storm water runoff, without or with
limited use of typical storm/sanitary sewer
system, and at a minimal cost for the proposed
Lakeside Development.
5.CME.36
Flexural and Shear Testing of Basalt
Reinforced Concrete Structures
Mohamad Alsharbini, Omar Daniel, Dan Hicks,
Nate Kazier, Blake Sloan
Advisor: Karl Rockne, PhD
Engineering
Sustainability is one of the foremost focal points
in all engineering projects in today’s society.
Innovators are working to design economically
efficient projects with enhanced longevity in
order to keep pace with the green movement.
When it comes to steel reinforced concrete
structures that are used to sustain hydraulic salt-
water pressure, one of the more prominent
deterioration issues is a result of steel rusting
due to of the infiltrated water. As a means of
extending the durability and efficiency of these
structures, we have tested the strength and
utility of Basalt rods as a replacement for the
steel reinforcement. In order to compile a
sufficient amount of data on the new material,
our group has designed, built, and tested both
beams and slaps in different reinforcement
configurations. We performed structural and
shear tests on these beams and slabs, as well
as other minor tests such as tension test on the
basalt rebar itself. In turn we have used this data
to demonstrate how concrete structures such as
fish tank, dams, levees, and other manmade
formations subjected to constant saltwater
contact can demonstrate both prolonged
existence as well as increased strength in order
to keep up with advancing green technology. To
display these results in both concrete as well as
theoretical terms, we have redesigned the
characteristics of the Shedd Aquarium’s tanks in
order to express the enhanced strength and
proposed increased lifespan when Basalt rods
are used to replace steel reinforcement.

Abstracts
2011
21
X.MAJOR.X
6.CME.61
Flood Water Control - Westchester, IL
Casey Biernacki, Joe Dizenzo, Christopher
Message, Dustin Nash
Advisor: Christopher Burke, PhD
Engineering
The town of Westchester, IL suffered massive
flooding this past summer due to the 100-year
storm events that traveled through the Midwest.
Westchester was forced to declare a state of
emergency due to the over abundance of water
that flooded streets, homes, and properties. The
areas in Westchester that suffered the worst
amount of flooding have storm water
management systems that are old and outdated.
It is our goal to choose one of these sections
and design a storm water system that will be
able to better withstand the effects of larger
storms. We will utilize HEC-HMS, TR-20, and
other water management computer programs to
analyze the current situation. Using this
information we will design additional storage and
overland flow routes, and possibly redesign the
combined sewer systems. Our final designs
should minimize the potential for property
damage and provide Westchester with minimal
flooding. Due the current economy, we will be
making this project as feasible for the tax payers
as possible.
5.CME.35
Integration of Radiant Heat and
Flexible Concrete in Bridge Decks
Shraddha Adhikari, Rose Sadlier, Raguez Taha
Engineering
According to the United States Department of
Transportation, icy pavement causes an
average of 366,000 car crashes per year
(Pissano et al., 10). Bridge decks in particular,
are common locations for accidents, as they are
more susceptible to colder air temperatures and
lack proper insulation. State transportation
officials currently use salts and chemicals such
as Calcium Chloride, Magnesium Chloride,
Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA), and
Potassium Acetate (KAc), sand, sensor systems
and geothermal heating for deicing. Chemical
deicers, currently in use, have detrimental
effects on the surrounding environment.
Additionally, chemical deicers intensify freeze-
thaw cycles causing the concrete to crack and
corrode the reinforcing steel there by reducing
the life span of bridges. An alternative to
chemical deicers is radiant heat preventing the
formation of ice. With the integration of flexible
concrete, a more durable, less permeable, and
more sustainable bridge can be achieved. To
determine the feasibility, radiant heat and
flexible concrete will be applied to the Old
Orchard Road Bridge located in Skokie, Illinois.
Finite element modeling will aid in the
comparative analysis among radiantly heated
bridge decks composed of: conventional
concrete, conductive concrete and flexible
concrete.

Abstracts
2011
22
X.MAJOR.X
3.CME.26
Interstate 57/294 Exchange
Justas Juozapaitis, David Machala, Tommy
Myszka, Ben Ostermann, Carlos Sorto
Advisors: Mohsen A. Issa, PhD, PE, SE
Engineering
Spiro Pantazis, PE, SE, TY
Lin International
Located about 20 miles south of downtown
Chicago, the crossing of Interstate 57 and
Interstate 294 is one of two locations in the
country without a highway interchange. In an
effort to make this location more driver-friendly,
a number of engineering firms have worked on
the design, which is near completion, while
construction to remove and replace the mainline
bridge has already begun. People traveling
south on I-57 wanting to eventually travel east
on I-80 will save around seven miles of travel
distance after completion of the interchange.
Our project is to work with T.Y. Lin International
in designing the structural aspects of a curved
fly-over ramp bridge, which will connect
northbound I-57 to westbound I-294. The
design components will include: the continuous
bridge deck, the supporting steel members and
the pier columns. Specifically, the concrete
deck will be two lanes wide, varying from a
minimum of 43.5 feet wide up to 48 feet to
comply with necessary AASHTO guidelines.
Built-up steel girders will be sized depending on
the following criteria throughout the bridge: the
span lengths, loads supported, bridge curvature,
etc. Pier Columns will be designed and placed in
the necessary locations to help tie the entire
structure together. Looking at the big picture,
the purpose of this project is to establish the
basic knowledge of all constituents of designing
a curved bridge.
4.CME.24
Light-Transmitting Concrete, a
Glimpse into a Greener Sustainable
Future
Frankie Guzman, Yuri Leskiv, Dimitrios
Moustaferis
Advisor: Eduard Karpov, PhD
Engineering
The idea of light transmitting concrete was
developed in 2001 by a Hungarian Architect and
has opened up a new path in the construction of
modern concrete applications. With the infusion
of 4% optical fibers into a mixture of concrete,
the formation of a light transmitting concrete
block is created. With this addition, the structural
performance of the material is unaffected. The
resulting “Translucent Concrete” is developed
for use in applications ranging from sustainable
structures to modern decorative furniture. The
application itself is in early development stages,
creating high production costs; bringing about
much needed research for improvement. This
project explores optical properties inherent to
the concrete block and further investigates
monochromatic-led sources, selective photo-
sensors, and the actual absorption coefficient for
various wavelengths of light incident upon the
sample. With photometric quantities and having
measured an accurate absorption coefficient,
the results are compared with regular fiber
optical properties. Conclusions will be made on
possible greenhouse effect due to lower
transmissibility in the infrared range, beneficial
for cold-climate residential construction.
Mechanical properties will also be analyzed
(layout of the fiber structure). With high demand
for greener developments, we will analyze the
possibility of building cleaner, more efficient
structures through the use of light transmitting
concrete. This project determines if sufficient
absorption of light and thermal energy is
transferred to create newer applications for use.

Abstracts
2011
23
X.MAJOR.X
3.CME.28
Metra Train Station-Pedestrian
Tunnel, Lombard, IL
Robert Churchill, Kyle Cussen, John Helfrich,
Mark Seaquist, Zach Smith
Advisor: Krishna R. Reddy, PhD
UIC Dept of Civil & Materials
Engineering
The state of Illinois has the second-highest
number of railroad crossing accidents in the
nation. A new rule by the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) requires the ten states with
the most crossing collisions over the past three
years to come up with specific solutions for
improving safety. The Regional Transportation
Authority (RTA) utilizes the three-track Union
Pacific owned railway to run consistent
commuter trains to and from the City of Chicago.
Options outlined by the FRA include shutting
down crossings or building bypass structures,
such as overpasses and tunnels. In order to
improve safety and accessibility at the Metra
station in the Village of Lombard, a pedestrian
tunnel is proposed. This project will investigate
the design and construction of this structure
along with the layout and planning of the
surrounding area. A pedestrian tunnel was
chosen due to the existing conditions of the
area. The existing pedestrian grade crossing is
located approximately ten feet above the
adjacent access roads. The Metra station is
located in the heart of downtown Lombard and
poses unique challenges in implementing
construction which must be considered. The
structure must meet the unique loading criteria
caused by the commuter and freight train traffic.
The downtown area is vital to the local economy
and therefore must not be affected adversely
during the construction process. This project
provides instrumental advancements in safety
and functionality to the commuters of Lombard.
5.CME.33
Navy Pier Improvement: Design of a
Modern Ferris Wheel - a visionary
focal point for Chicago
Ahmad Elayan, Rami Elayan, Timothy Merrill,
Collin Quinn, Dritan Shehi
Advisor: Didem Ozevin, PhD
Engineering
Chicago’s Navy Pier was originally designed as
part of “The Plan of Chicago” by architect and
city planner Daniel Burnham. Today, Navy Pier
is Chicago’s number one tourist attraction. In
2009 the estimated attendance was 8 million,
with revenue in FY 2010 exceeding $119 million.
The main focal point on the pier today is the 150
foot tall Ferris Wheel, built in 1995. Chicago was
home to the world’s first Ferris Wheel, built for
the Columbian Exposition in 1893. With such a
historical claim to the attraction, the existing 150
foot tall wheel on the pier falls short of Daniel
Burnham’s famous assertion: “Make no little
plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”
The current Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier is open
to the elements, designed in the original
gondola-style fashion (which partially restricts
viewing), and is much smaller and less grand
than the new large scale observation wheels
being built in major metropolitan areas around
the world. Our engineering team has
ascertained that designing and constructing a
new observation wheel for the pier would benefit
and promote the image of Navy Pier as well as
the city of Chicago, through more visitors and
increased revenue. Our team’s novel structural
design combines the following elements: state-
of-the-art engineering knowledge on the use of
high-strength pre-tensioned elements,
composite material for lighter structural design,
and innovative car design with material intended
to keep the wheel functional and comfortable
throughout the year.

Abstracts
2011
24
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5.CME.34
Non-Destructive Evaluation for
Predicting Bolt Failure in Highway
Bridges
George Hubbard, William Knight, Dmitriy
Ofrikhter
Advisor: Didem Ozevin, PhD
Engineering
Inspection of bridge bolts is currently a highly
unreliable process. Visual inspection is the most
commonly used method, which by its very
nature, is greatly dependent upon the individual
inspectors. Although different governing
organizations have created their own standard
criteria regarding the state of acceptable bolts,
studies have shown that there is a high level of
variation and accuracy between different
inspectors. This unreliability can translate to
unwarranted and uneconomical bolt
replacement or, more catastrophically, unsound
bridge structures. Steel truss bridges suffer the
highest failure rate of all bridge types, and these
bridges can contain over 5,000 bolted
connections. A more robust approach for
determining bolt strength would improve bridge
rehabilitation costs as well as structural integrity.
The non-destructive, ultrasonic testing methods
developed in this study provide a reliable and
quantitative process for determining potential
bridge bolt failure states. Ultrasonic testing
provides an efficient and more reliable
alternative to visual inspection and creates
quantifiable results for use in future operations.
Benefits of a more adequate inspection method
will be realized by both contractors and
municipal funding sources, not to mention the
general public.
4.CME.22
Railway Track Foundation Design
Using Recycled Materials
Paulius Gurklys, Dylan Johnston, Milja Pekic,
Martin Todorov
Advisor: Krishna R. Reddy, PhD, PE
Engineering
A growing demand for construction aggregates
is depleting sources of natural aggregates.
Therefore, large scale civil engineering
applications of recycled materials are becoming
more prevalent. With increased government
support for railway network expansion, recycled
materials in railway track foundation design
should be considered. Currently, most of the
recycled materials are used in highway
construction applications. Minimal consideration
is given for its use in railway track foundations.
The primary goal of our project is to design a
new railway track foundation for Metra trains
using locally available aggregates blended with
appropriate recycled materials. Track
foundation primarily consists of three stratums:
ballast, sub-ballast, and subgrade. For ballast
and sub-ballast design, requirements include
choosing appropriate recycled materials which
are compatible with aggregates and comply with
AREMA specifications for performance of
materials. For subgrade soils, requirements
include obtaining data for required ASTM tests.
The performance of materials used for ballast,
sub-ballast, and subgrade was tested at UIC
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering Laboratory where we acquired the
necessary data for our design. This data
allowed us to evaluate the chemical
compatibility, durability, mechanical properties,
and behavior of recycled materials blended with
aggregates. It was determined that certain
recycled materials can successfully be blended
with aggregates to provide satisfactory
performance for ballast and sub-ballast in

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2011
25
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railway track foundation design. Our design
demonstrates that application of recycled
materials can be expanded to construction of
railway track foundations, thus preserving
natural aggregate resources and freeing
landfills.
3.CME.25
Sustainable Highway Development
Project
Stacey Lindeman, Sherryl Malanao
Advisor: Christopher B. Burke, PhD
Engineering
How can a new generation of 21st century
engineers make sustainable changes to
enhance the existing infrastructure?
The Sustainable Highway Development Project
describes vertical expansion plans for Chicago’s
highway infrastructure where the creation of a
mixed use public space above the highway will
resolve environmental issues while transforming
urban culture. This project is based on the idea
of renovating segments of Chicago’s existing
highway to service more than just drivers, but
also surrounding environments and local
communities. The structure will be limited to an
appropriate stretch of highway based on
orientation, existing roadway elevations, flooding
tendencies, and other factors influencing
efficiency of energy production.
Civil engineers play the most critical role in
city planning, as we are responsible for laying
the framework by which all urban activity grows.
From improving highway safety to renewable
energy production, there are many advantages
both social and economical associated with the
design of this project. The reinvention of
highway space for more concentrated public
activity has the potential to position Chicago as
a leader in not only progressive urban planning,
but also the economies of environmentally
conscious design.
6.CME.62
Water Supply for Engineers Without
Borders (EWB)
Arshed Ahamed, Mohamed Aroos, Joe
Imbrogno, David Kierys, Tim Muszynsky
Dept. Of Civil & Mechanical
Engineering
Water is unequivocally the most important
component of any civilization; thus the
importance of having an accessible, reliable and
safe water supply system is vital to the well-
being of every society. Small rural communities
and EWB understand this necessity. Engineers
Without Borders (EWB) is a humanitarian
organization dedicated to providing small
communities in developing countries with
engineering services. The UIC Student Chapter
of EWB is currently working with two rural
villages, Cerro Alto and Labor de Falla, in
Guatemala. Recognizing that the water was
becoming contaminated at the household level
due to long storage conditions, EWB is focused
on providing the Guatemalan villages with clean,
continuous running water. Our group is
collaborating with EWB by designing a large
reinforced concrete water storage tank. Through
the use of various resources such as surveys
and research studies, and forecasting future
water demands of the community, we were able
to accurately predict the size the tank needed to
accommodate this growing community. The
design process of this project consists of a
reinforced concrete tank, located partially
underground on a hillside. The walls and
foundation will be designed to withstand
hydrostatic and earth loads. It will be integrated
into an existing system where it will serve with
the additional smaller tank as the village’s main
water storage tank.

Abstracts
2011
26
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3.CME.29
Western Avenue: Optimized Transit
Possibilities
!
Eric Borys, Klarenc Kallco, Pat Masier, Ryan
Wood
!
Advisor: Jane Lin, PhD
UIC Dept. Civil and Materials
Engineering
!
The purpose of this study is to examine the
possibility of implementing a Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) and/or Traffic Signal Priority (TSP)
system on Western Avenue with the expected
outcome of reduced public transit travel time
while maintaining or improving existing vehicular
service levels. The proposal focuses on a 0.5
mile corridor between Chicago Avenue and
Division Avenue, a high volume bus route of the
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Contributing
factors to its inefficiency are lack of dedicated
bus lanes, frequent stops, near-sided stops, and
inefficient bus board/pay methods. The
simulated BRT, modeled after the Bogota,
Columbia and Curitiba, Brazil systems, remains
geometrically exact due to site-specific
conditions that prohibit any roadway or lane
expansion. Current observed traffic numbers
during peak hours will be used in the simulation.
The proposed BRT infrastructure examines lane
exchange options and bus stop modifications to
minimize delays due to traffic queuing. All
changes will be implemented in an attempt to
decrease transit times as well as increase
ridership. The new BRT system would attract
riders because the changes above will create
more dependable real-time travel information. A
second feasible alternative to the BRT system
will also be presented. This analysis will not
modify any functionality or geometry of the
present roadway design. The CTA conducted a
TSP pilot program to measure efficiency. A more
aggressive approach to this program or
optimization of signal timings within the corridor
of study could also decrease transit travel time
and attract additional ridership. Utilization of
traffic modeling will determine if this alternative
method produces the required decrease in
transit times without interrupting the current
vehicular traffic level of service.
3.CME.30
Willow Road Renovation
Mark Derkach, Peter Fetzer, Kurian Jokutty,
Jaroslaw Ozarowski, Kevin Rice
Advisor: Jane Lin, PhD
UIC Dept of Civil & Materials
Engineering
For many years, the Chicago suburbs of
Northfield, Northbrook, and Glenview have
advocated for a redesign of Willow Road.
Issues include current and future traffic
demands, safety concerns, budgets, and the
overall community atmosphere. The portion of
Willow Road in question spans from its
intersection with Shermer Road to the I-94
expressway, about 4.5 miles. Just a decade
ago this distance was mainly prairies and
contained only a few schools, homes, and
churches along with a landfill and the
abandoned Naval Air Station Glenview. It has
now become an arterial road at the center of a
growing residential area, which in addition
houses four major retail centers, schools, and a
train station.
In this study portion of Willow Road, four lanes
bottleneck into two lanes for a stretch of
approximately 1.1 miles. While constructing a
wider road may sound logical, there are many
problems to address when doing so. The
growing traffic around this portion of Willow
Road has created greater dangers with
pedestrian crossings, especially when
considering the location of schools in the area.
In addition to these concerns, the residents of
the area feel that their community will feel
divided with the expansion of an already busy
road. These issues, as well as concerns relating

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2011
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X.MAJOR.X
to budget and the functionality of the road, are
key contributors in this debate. A plan must be
devised to address and lighten all concerns.
This plan will include, but not be limited to,
proposed alternative solutions with the addition
of lanes to alleviate the ongoing traffic,
coordinated traffic signals, improved levels of
service, and safe crossings for pedestrians in
the form of an overpass.
4.CME.23
Windy City Wind Farm
Andy Ahern, Heriberto Hernandez, David Sitko,
Charles Wurl
Advisor: Karl J. Rockne, PhD
UIC Dept. of Civil and Materials
Engineering
Improving air quality while maintaining energy
generation to meet the needs of a growing
population has been identified as one of the key
design challenges of the next century by the
National Academy of Engineering. Of primary
importance in the realm of air quality are green
house gas (GHG) emissions and their role in
global warming. Currently, 40% of GHG
emissions are generated by fossil fuel powered
electricity plants in the USA. In order to cut
GHG emissions, it is clear that markets for
alternative forms of renewable energy
generation must be developed. The two most
prevalent renewable sources ranked by total
energy generation capacity in the USA are water
and wind. Currently the state of Illinois has
employed wind as the main renewable energy
source due to its lack of topographic and water
resource features necessary for a large
hydropower infrastructure. However, it is clear
that Illinois lags well behind in the production of
wind energy compared to other states with
similar wind resources such as Iowa (Illinois has
<40% of the capacity of Iowa). This design
project focuses on bridging this gap in the urban
environment of the city of Chicago. While an
intensely urbanized city provides a challenging
environment for a major infrastructure project, its
location adjacent to Lake Michigan provides an
ideal site. Offshore locations produce energy
more efficiently due to higher and steadier wind
speeds than land-based sites. We predict that a
feasible wind farm goal will be to replace the
coal power plant capacity operating in the City of
Chicago. Current technology supports this
hypothesis. The largest offshore wind farm
produces ~300 megawatt-hours of power
annually; in comparison, the second largest coal
powering plant produces ~326 megawatt-hours.
Replacing this plant would lead to substantial
reductions in GHG emissions and other
pollution, while matching power demands of the
city of Chicago. Creating a wind farm would also
help achieve the national goals for renewable
energy capacity of 20% by 2030. The current
design will focus on allocating the wind farm to
optimally meet energy needs due to daily and
seasonal fluctuations in the sustained wind
speed and direction on Lake Michigan.
Structural components of the design include
anchoring the windmills to the Lake sediments.
Finally, design of the power transfer system will
be presented.
[End of Civil & Materials Engineering
Abstracts]

Abstracts
2011
28
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DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRICAL AND
COMPUTER ENGINEERING
8.ECE.50
ARMi: A Modern Kit Computer
Pat Gavlin
Advisor: Wenjing Rao, PhD
UIC Dept. of Electrical and
Computer Engineering
In the current computing landscape, it is difficult
to break into low level/systems programming
and computer systems design. Although
microcontrollers may seem to answer both of
these issues, the typical microcontroller is too
much a black box: the inner workings of the
system are hidden from the user. This design
leads to a poor understanding of peripheral
interfacing and processor capabilities. Aside
from this, many microcontrollers or
microcontroller-based systems require the
purchase of a significant amount of support
hardware and software before use. Taking
inspiration from past programmers and
engineers who wrote software and developed
hardware for 8-bit microcomputers such as the
Apple II/Commodore 64, this project proposes a
modern kit computer. A kit computer must be
self-supporting, robust, expandable, and
accessible. This kit meets these goals. The
design is stand-alone, requiring little more than
basic soldering equipment, a computer monitor,
and a keyboard. It has been kept simple to
avoid issues due to inexperienced users and the
system supports software development. As a kit,
the design forces its user to get hands-on with
hardware, furthering their understanding of
digital logic and microprocessor interfacing. In
the interest of imparting useful, transferrable
knowledge and skills, the kit has been designed
using modern components such as the ARM
processor from which it takes its name. The
design serves to further the user's
understanding of computers and systems at a
lower level than is easily achievable.
7.ECE.58
Augmenteddd++
Manuel A Nunez
Advisor: Milos Zephran, PhD
UIC Dept. Electrical and
In recent years 3D displays have become widely
popular. But enhancing the 3D experience to the
next level has become an even more difficult
challenge. Currently, special devices and
software exist that allow the user to interact with
3D objects, many of them quite expensive. For
that reason, Augmenteddd++ aims to enhance
the 3D interaction between the user and the 3D
objects with the widely used augmented reality
software ARToolkit. By doing that,
Augmenteddd++ will provide a way to interact
with objects in augmented reality that could be
potentially used in many areas such as haptics,
modeling, games or advertising while reducing
the cost of development.
8.ECE.53
Green Breeze
Tomasz Pikul, Sujit Shah, Carlos Torres, Justin
Tullos!
Advisor: Robert A. Becker,
UIC Dept. of Engineering
Green Breeze was engineered to safeguard
putting greens from adverse climate conditions,

Abstracts
2011
29
X.MAJOR.X
preserving the most crucial and costly
component of a golf course. Without air
circulation, a hot and humid layer of stagnant air
remains on top of the putting green, not allowing
evapotranspiration to occur, which in turn kills
the grass and causes golf courses to completely
replace the putting green. Research has shown
that grass exposed to temperatures above 90
degrees and relative humidity above 90% for
long periods of time is the main cause of
damage. At Green Breeze we have constructed
a system that will replenish the air circulation on
a putting green. Our solution is implemented
using readings from a motion detector (to not
disturb a game), a thermal/humidity sensor (to
know at what point to trigger the fan on), and an
HCS12/9S112 microcontroller (which controls
and regulates the speed of the fan
automatically). Our fan has its own housing to
protect it from adverse weather conditions as
well as to seclude it from the playing field. The
fan is connected to PVC pipes which run
underground to transport the air to the putting
green through ventilators. This results in a
system that is completely discrete and provides
the proper amount of air circulation for a healthy
putting green. Green Breeze is not only more
efficient at providing adequate air circulation,
compared to the current industry standard of a
box fan, but is also more eye pleasing to the
landscape.
8.ECE.49
GuitArduino – Self Teaching
Electronic Guitar
Andrew Garza, Mamlook Jendo
Advisor: Vahe Caliskan, PhD
Computer Engineering Dept.
It may be difficult for some to teach themselves
how to play guitar. Many people tend to be
visual learners and reading sheet music, guitar
tablature, or scales, can be tricky. The
GuitArduino offers an additional user interface to
a guitar that helps new guitar players. The
GuitArduindo has a light display throughout the
neck of the guitar, this tells the guitar player
where to hold their fingers. For instance, if the
user wants to learn a C chord, the GuitArduino
will light the finger placement of a C chord. The
same goes for scales and eventually songs. By
installing LED’s throughout the neck of the guitar
and determining where the guitarist’s fingers are
placed, a micrcontroller can add additional
interfacing to a guitar. We are ultimately creating
a different and new insturement, while still
maintaining what makes it a guitar.
8.ECE.48
Kitchen Sidekick
Justin Taylor, John Wenzler
Advisor: Milos Zephran, PhD
Kitchen Sidekick and companion application
Drink Sidekick strive to be the future of food and
drink inventory software/hardware dealing with
situations such as dinner selection or drink
preparation. We focused on creating a simple
interface that would allow the ability to
accurately take stock of items in a household or
business. Key features include managing
inventory, creating and searching for recipes, a
rich web-based interface, and intuitive hardware.
There are several aspects of our project that set
it apart from other contemporary designs.
Recipes can be searched for based on what you
currently have in stock. This way you can offer
dinner or drink suggestions without having to
worry about going to the store to purchase extra
ingredients. The website that users log onto and
its database have unique properties as well. A
user purchases a scanner and adds items when
desired. A barcode scanner plugged into a
PIC32 microcontroller facilitates the addition and
deletion of items. Scanned items are

Abstracts
2011
30
X.MAJOR.X
asynchronously updated into a database that
can be accessed from anywhere via the internet.
AJAX calls from Javascript are used to update
the website when alterations are made. The
user accesses his or her inventory via the
website: kitchensidekick.com (groceries) or
drinksidekick.com (beverages). For businesses
the idea could be extended with a point of sale
system to allow customers to purchase available
food or drinks.
8.ECE.51
Nintendo DS "ReView"
Stephan Kulov, Christopher Musawi, Pece
Petrevski
Advisor: Dan Schonfeld, PhD
The Nintendo DS is a popular, portable gaming
system. Unlike most other systems, it has two
display screens instead of just one. However,
there is no option to connect the Nintendo DS to
an external display via standard consumer video
output connections. There are two main reasons
for wanting such a feature. The first is to display
the game on an external screen (most likely
larger) to enhance the gaming experience and
would also allow for a larger viewing audience.
The second reason is that adding video output
connections would allow the Nintendo DS to be
connected to video recording devices. A PC's
video capture card would be the primary target.
These cards are used frequently to record "play-
throughs" of video games which would then be
posted on the internet for mass viewing. Speed-
runners (people who try to finish video games in
record times) in particular are looking for a
device such as this to record and post "runs" of
their Nintendo DS games, since nothing like it
exists as of yet. This device solves the issue by
tapping the video lines feeding the Nintendo
DS's internal displays. The 18-bit RGB data is
processed using a Digilent Inc. FPGA
development board to add several video output
connections to the Nintendo DS (Model NTR-
001). Although this added functionality
decreases the battery life of the system, a solar
charging device is then installed, with a constant
charge applied to the system. As solar
technology improves, the amount of charge to
the system will increase.
6.ECE.60
Parking Spot Locator (PSL)
Syed Ali, Zohaib Khan, Tilawat Mir
According to various studies, the average time
spent cruising for a parking spot is about 5 to 15
minutes. This is not only inconvenient but can
cause you to be late for a critical appointment, or
even miss it entirely. In a situation like this, you
wish somebody (or something) could just guide
you to a free space. Keeping this concern as our
main motive, we have designed a Parking Spot
locating system. The system includes a display
screen mounted at every aisle and two distance
sensors installed on each parking spot to
minimize any erroneous detection. The sensors
detect the presence of a vehicle and send the
availability status to the display through the
microcontroller. This design can be implemented
easily in any parking lot. We tested our design
on a prototype successfully and accomplished
our goal to save time by guiding the driver to an
available spot. To improve this design,
interfacing between microcontroller, display and
sensors can be done wirelessly. Future
development can link PSL system with Google
maps so current occupancy status of a
subscribing lot can be broadcasted to the driver
on his GPS device.

Abstracts
2011
31
X.MAJOR.X
8.ECE.52
PC Remote
Daniel Ceh, Tony Gallotta, Andrew Suh
Advisor: Natasha Devroye, PhD
As technology advances, we find many
applications that improve the comfort and quality
of life. One of the oldest and most classic
examples is the remote. The idea of remote
control is over a hundred years old, and has
been applied to many common devices,
televisions and car doors just to list a couple.
However, this technology has not yet been
applied to personal computers, a mainstay in
today’s household. Our goal is to introduce the
idea of activating a computer from a distance
and demonstrate it in practice. In our project,
we use a development board from Linx
Technology to provide the wireless interface.
This involves all the transmitter and receiver
modules, as well as the physical remotes. This
prototype device is made to be compatible with
standard USB ports found on most computers,
and is programmed to work with modern
Windows operating systems (Vista and 7).
Upon activation from the remote, the receiver
module will communicate through the USB port,
and in conjunction with the software we have
written, will allow the user to log into their
computer profile from a distance. While we
have completed our primary goal of completing
the proof of concept for our idea, the next step is
to improve the packaging of the USB device for
marketability and portability, as well as introduce
additional features such as the ability to turn the
computer OFF and ON, as well as logging out.
7.ECE.59
Personal Automated Note Digitizing
Application (P.A.N.D.A.)
Marios Fanourakis, Mayur Patel, Patrick
Scannell
Advisor: Jezekiel Ben-Arie, PhD
In the ever expanding technology industry the
demand for automated user friendly digital data
entry systems has been consistently increasing.
Existing systems such as LaTeX and Microsoft
Word are cumbersome and lack automation.
Users of such systems must manually input data
to form complex objects such as mathematical
equations. The proposed system will provide a
more efficient and simple means of digitizing
user data ranging from handwritten notes to
complex formulas. P.A.N.D.A. provides a
universal environment requiring no proprietary or
specialized hardware. Required input data is
collected using a typical computer webcam or
other image capturing device such as a scanner
and is processed through a sophisticated
handwriting recognition application. P.A.N.D.A.
is designed and implemented using MathWorks‘
powerful programming environment, MATLAB. A
simple graphical interface interacts with users to
help automate the process. Testing a variety of
handwritten characters with algorithms such as
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) produced
poor results. Further testing of our design using
Support Vector Machines (SVM) and neural
networks produced much more desirable results.
Further developments using P.A.N.D.A. could
consist of an automated mathematical
environment with the ability to solve complex
equations from the digitized handwritten user
input. Such technology could find widespread
use in the fields of mathematics and
engineering.

Abstracts
2011
32
X.MAJOR.X
4.ECE.31
Power Saving Outlet
Lenny Aponte, Jeff Kelly, Ralph Kramarski
With portable devices being in such high
demand today, the need to protect and preserve
the devices’ power supplies is critical. The
purpose of the Power Saving Outlet (PSO) is
such that it will reduce power consumption and
extending the life of rechargeable batteries by
not overcharging. This device is designed in
such a way that the level of current being drawn
by the appliance is measured, and switched off
when a certain minimum current has been
detected. Switching off will occur when the built-
in circuit breaker is overloaded, thus causing the
circuit to break. This will effectively look as if the
appliance is disconnected from the outlet, thus
drawing no power. To reset the circuit, the user
will simply have to close the breaker. The PSO
will itself draw minimum power so as to provide
maximum savings to the consumer. The final
product will be very simple to use and will be
contained in a small package so that multiple
units may be used next to each other (e.g. in a
power strip). The Power Saving Outlet will be
plugged into an outlet; the user will plug in
his/her device into the PSO and will switch the
circuit breaker on. Project specifications were
met and accomplished by computer simulations
and laboratory testing.
7.ECE.54
RF Proximity Detection Applications
Cody Moy, Matthew Rice, Russell Teller,
Matthew Yapp
Advisors: Natasha Devroye, PhD
Jakob Eriksson, PhD
In the past few years a number of devices have
been developed that utilize radio frequency (RF)
technology to perform a variety of tasks. Some
of these tasks include remote control of devices
and tracking of people and objects with RF tags.
Most of these devices presume that the RF
sender and receiver are already within a given
range. For our project, we are developing
applications using the TI-ez430 Chronos
Development Kit that will detect the proximity of
a specific device using an RF signal. The
simplest application we will develop will be a
proximity switch that will save power in the home
or office by switching off lights or digital clock
faces which are not close enough to the user to
be of any use. This application is meant to be a
more accurate alternative to motion sensors
which will shut the lights off if you stop moving,
for instance while reading. The most complex
application we hope to achieve is actual
distance measuring using an RF signal. One
example application where this ability would
prove useful would be in the monitoring of small
children. The user would enter in a distance,
and the device would alert the user if one of the
children being monitored moved farther away
than that allowed distance.

Abstracts
2011
33
X.MAJOR.X
7.ECE.55
RS422 Monitoring System
Andrzej Gawecki, Pawel Konieczek
Sponsors: Continental Corporation
Advisor: Yingwei Yao, PhD
UIC Dept. of Electrical &
The RS-422 protocol greatly expands the
practical possibilities of the serial bus. It
provides a mechanism by which serial data can
be transmitted over great distances (up to 4,000
ft) and at very high speeds (to 10 Mbps). This is
accomplished by splitting each signal across two
separate wires in opposite states - one inverted;
the other not inverted. The difference in voltage
between the two lines is compared by the
receiver to determine the logical state of the
signal. This wire configuration is called
differential data transmission. This potential
difference will affect both wires equally, and thus
not affect their inverse relationship.
Twisted pairs of wire, which ensure that neither
line is permanently closer to a noise source than
the other, are often used to best equalize
influences on the two lines. Errors can be
caused by high noise levels affecting one side of
the receiver to a different extent than the other.
To combat this, each receiver is generally
grounded. RS-422 interface is used abundantly
in the engineering industry and, because its
immunity on signal disturbances, it serves as a
good source of serial communication.
Our goal is to design the monitoring system of
RS-422 communication interface. This
application will display intercepted messages
that appear on RS-422 communication lines,
and will allow testing functionality of specific
system or device. Designed graphical user
interface of mentioned application will show
these messages in HEX format (and/or ASCII).
In addition, the implemented Windows Graphical
User Interface application will also have options
to store these messages in the text formatted
files. Mentioned product might serve in the
industry as a universal test equipment device
and become a source of reference for all
operations in which the RS-422 communication
interface is used.
4.ECE.32
SOL-R
Daniel Bustamante, Sergio Martinez, Michael
Eluna Pena
Solar rays striking the Earth will vary during a
twenty-four hour period. This is due to location,
time of day, time of year, and weather
conditions. In order to maximize a solar cell, one
must adjust the position of a solar cell. If the
solar cell is out of reach like on a roof, adjusting
it might be a nuisance or even dangerous. An
automatic system is needed not only to ensure
an optimal position but also for ease. The
purpose of the Solar Tracking System is to align
the solar panel in the direction of the Sun. The
tracking system is going to be an automatic
system that will self-adjust itself to an optimal
position. As a result, the transfer of solar energy
striking the solar panel will be at maximum. The
solar panel will then have the capability of
delivering the maximum amount of power to a
load. The tracking system is designed with 3
photo-resistor circuits that are connected to op-
amps to monitor the voltage levels. The op-
amps are connected to logic gates which then
drive the H-Bridge motor control. The motor
control sends a signal to the linear actuator to
position the solar panel to an optimal position.
The goal of the project is design an automatic
system that will control the position of the solar
cell. The initial cost of the Solar Tracking System
will be high. Over time the system will be
environmentally friendly and will pay for itself.

UIC Engineering EXPO 2011 Projects Guide

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UIC Engineering EXPO 2011 Projects Guide